ePacket delivery is one of the most popular shipping methods. As one of the fastest delivery methods, ePacket China allows you to ship internationally. You can use China Post to monitor your ePacket tracking for your customers.

When it comes to dropshipping with platforms like AliExpress, most products are manufactured in China or Hong Kong. Naturally, many of the suppliers are based in this part of the world. This is one reason why products on AliExpress are low cost. Many have asked themselves, “why buy a cheap product if shipping fees are high and wait times are long?”

Formerly, products purchased from China were shipped by sea. This meant delivery could take 8+ weeks. This meant your customers had to wait longer to receive their products. Or you’d also have to purchase the product at a higher price from a US based supplier. Unfortunately, buying from a US supplier can eat into your profit margins.

Fortunately, ePacket tracking shows that most orders come within 30 days. When you check your ePacket track data, you might notice many packages arrive sooner. Now, ePacket China Post tracking allows people to order affordable products from China with low shipping costs. There are several considerations to make regarding using ePacket delivery. For example: ePacket regulations, the location of your customer base, and how to track ePacket deliveries. This guide will cover these topics and more.

What Is ePacket Delivery?

ePacket delivery is an agreement between the US Postal Service and Hongkong Post. The goal is to increase international ecommerce sales for China. It allows for faster ePacket delivery of products coming from China and Hong Kong to the United States. Merchants can send small packages weighing up to 2 kg (4.4 lbs).

ePacket was originally created specifically for ecommerce purchases. It allows customers in the United States to have access to affordable shipping costs when ordering from China. Then, ePacket became so successful within the US that they began expanding internationally. The list of countries that have access to ePacket is constantly growing.

Keep in mind that it’s not possible to offer free shipping on all products. If the package is under 24″ x 36″ and less than 2kg it qualifies for ePacket shipping. Notably, this type of ePacket delivery method must be shipped from either China or Hong Kong. Thus, if certain AliExpress vendors have products shipping within the US, customers cannot benefit from ePacket shipping in that specific case.

Which countries have ePacket shipping?

There is a growing list of countries that are able to benefit from the affordable China ePacket shipping. Updated: August 2017.

United States

Canada

Australia

UK & Ireland

New Zealand

Austria

Belgium

Brazil

Denmark

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Hong Kong

Hungary

Israel

Italy

Japan

Korea

Luxembourg

Malaysia

Netherlands

Portugal

Saudi Arabia

Singapore

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

ePacket Tracking – How to Track ePacket Delivery from China

Next, it’s important to learn how to track ePacket. ePacket shipping also features ePacket tracking and delivery confirmation in the US Postal Service network. Also, ePacket tracking codes must be obtained through your supplier, and you can track ePacket shipments through USPS, ePacket China Post, or sites like 17track.net — not through AliExpress itself.

You can go to My orders -> Track ePacket order on AliExpress to find your ePacket tracking code.

From there, you can go to the ePacket China Post website to manage your ePacket China Post tracking.

See how fast one buyer was able to get products from China all the way to New York.

It only took four days. Typically, ePacket delivery times aren’t always this short. Yet, ePacket delivery drastically cuts down the ePacket shipping time. This allows your customers to get faster delivery, which maintains your business’ positive relationship with them.

A product delivered with ePacket shipping is typically delivered within 7-30 days. The delivery method to the US is typically faster than other countries around the world. This is likely due to high order volumes from the US due to the size of their population allowing for more frequent trips. Yet, compared to standard ePacket China Post deliveries (sometimes up to 60 days), countries around the world receive their packages much faster when using ePacket shipping.

Often, you even have the option to select ePacket delivery options that are free. A benefit to free ePacket delivery is that you can have free shipping on your store which helps increase conversions. Even if you pay for shipping, it typically only costs a few dollars and can’t be absorbed into your business costs.

Pro Tip: Using Oberlo, you can quickly find products that have an ePacket delivery option available using an overlay filter:

Unfortunately, some suppliers claim to have ePacket delivery on the product page but don’t. Some ecommerce business owners notice after they order some suppliers ship using a different carrier. The carrier may have longer ship times. You can manually check on AliExpress’ Orders page under the View Details section to ensure that the ePacket delivery method was applied to your order. Keep in mind that this happens rarely. As a dropshipper, you can easily remove suppliers who do this.

That said, you do need to select ePacket shipping when ordering products to benefit from it. In Oberlo, on the gear in left panel, click “Suppliers.” By clicking ePacket as the default shipping method, you’ll automatically place ePacket shipping when it’s available as an option. ePacket delivery keeps your shipping costs low and quickens delivery times making it the best option for store owners.

This is yet another reason why it’s important to put time into finding a trustworthy supplier. If you find that a supplier isn’t using ePacket tracking, feel free to find a competitor selling the same product.

People want instant gratification. Therefore, by reducing shipping times your sales will likely grow. We saw that with Amazon tackling the “instant gratification” market. A core reason why they’ve dominated other retailers is the ease of purchasing a product on Amazon and low shipping times. Fortunately, you can still meet the needs of your customers with ePacket tracking and delivery. Thus, customers will still receive products quickly but at a fraction of the cost of an American made product.

The lower your shipping time and costs, the more likely customers are to buy from you. Your business will also have higher the margins from low business costs. Luckily, even if you have to pay for ePacket delivery, with the right product price, your business can easily absorb the cost of using ePacket China post tracking and delivery. Fortunately, most ePacket deliveries are either free or only a couple of dollars.

In addition, using ePacket tracking and delivery changes the game for ecommerce entrepreneurs who want to buy products from Chinese suppliers at a low cost, while maintaining quick shipping times for their customers.

Most noteworthy, customers may have to pay for customs or taxes on their products. This isn’t an ePacket shipping issue but an international shipping one. For best-selling items, you may want to contact your suppliers to find out about customs fees.

Notably, products with ePacket to Canada or other international countries may have slightly higher shipping fees and lengthier delivery times. Often, free ePacket shipping is only for the US. You need to look up the countries you serve manually to ensure that ePacket tracking and delivery is available internationally. Hence, if you always target the same countries, you might want to check if they have ePacket before importing them into your store. This helps to ensure that every customer who can benefits from the ePacket China post delivery option.

Fortunately, you now have a strong understanding of ePacket. Now, you’re ready to incorporate this delivery option onto your ecommerce store. Doing so is likely improve customer satisfaction and boost your conversation rates. For more tips and tricks for improving your dropshipping process, feel free to have a look around our blog.

Want to learn more?

How do you plan to use ePacket China post delivery in your dropshipping business? Leave your answer in the comments below, as we read every response.

Raghav Haran

Raghav Haran is a marketer and entrepreneur. After building a successful online business and living a location independent lifestyle, he writes content to help other entrepreneurs do the same. Follow him on Twitter @RaghavHaran

Idan

Why epacket estimated delivery time, now showing 13-20 days, which use to be 7-15 days few weeks back?
What has changed? and is it really take longer now?
Thanks.

Adam

The Estimated Delivery Time in Aliexpress is confusing. It keeps changing from 10-15 days to 20-40 days and vice versa. This is for the same supplier within the same hour. For someone who’s still new, this could be very confusing. Why does it keep changing and how to deal with it?

Another point is the tracking URL that you should be using when fulfilling an order in Shopify. For ePacket delivery, which URL is the best? Is it better to provide US customers with the USPS tracking URL instead of the China Post one?

Louis, plush-sale.com

We do have the same problem here, Need to change estimated time every day ! not funny.
Can we adjust our auto-selling price setting into Oberlo using epacket added to the cost price ?

I can’t tell you for sure, but from what I’ve heard (from our partners in China) it’s a temporary bug. The shipping timeframe for the US hasn’t actually changed – ePacket is rolling out services in the UK, FR, and other countries and since the delivery timeframe there is longer, AliExpress is mixing up the delivery times for all countries.

Another widespread theory I’ve heard from other dropshippers is that AliExpress has increased the estimated delivery time just to make sure that the packages arrives on time (even though nothing has changed).

I can’t tell you for sure, but from what I’ve heard (from our partners in China) it’s a temporary bug. The shipping timeframe for the US hasn’t actually changed – ePacket is rolling out services in the UK, FR, and other countries and since the delivery timeframe there is longer, AliExpress is mixing up the delivery times for all countries.

Another widespread theory I’ve heard from other dropshippers is that AliExpress has increased the estimated delivery time just to make sure that the packages arrives on time (even though nothing has changed).

—

We always suggest to use http://17track.net/ (it tracks everything from China Post to EMS and SF)

Hey. As far as i understand the “best practice” would be picking items which has ePacket delivery.
Tho, not all countries has an ePacket. So for example :
i’m picking a product which cost me 2$ + 2$ on the ePacket shipping. So i’m selling the product on my store for 10$. Everything goes smoothly until 10 customers from Brazil buy this product from my store. I’m checking on AliExpress how much it’s going to cost me, and suddenly i see that the only way to ship it’s about 35$. How can we avoid the scenarios? Exclude counties which doesn’t have ePacket? so for each product i have to check each country shipping costs? What would you advice?

Ruchika Johal

Hi!
I am opening an online store and would like to know how I can restrict customers from the countries where e-packet facility is not available.

@tomasslimas:disqus would appreciate if you can share your inputs here.

nanaskidsessentials

I want to find suppliers who have e-packet shipping, can I sign up for Oberlo and aliexpress to do my research before signing up for the 14 days shopify free trial, I dont want to wast the free trial researching suppliers
Thanks Mary

Just curious idle anyone else has been experiencing longer than usual delays on epacket deliveries? Many items say they are either ‘en route’ for weeks and weeks, or preparing for dispatch in China for many weeks. I’ve had a bunch of these issues lately. Most orders go through fine but about 30% don’t lately…

K Pk

We don’t have custom or duty fees if valued under $2000. Of course, if we want to ship something out of the country, our customers have to pay insane custom and duty fees, on top of insane shipping cost. No worries, we have plenty of waitress jobs here in the states and the waitresses can now use their meager salaries to buy cheap products from China.

Mike Lorde

what do epacket tracking numbers look like? does it start with LP?

and can you explain what each of the following mean? I have a feeling my suppleir is just messing around claiming free epacket (total item+shipping was 1.80$).

Order time & date: 17:25 Jan. 16 2017
logistics is posted as “Yanwen Economic Air Mail”.

Actually i need to do my business at the GCC region in the middle east but they aren’t listed in the eligible countries for epacket , how can i save on shipping costs?

merikat12

epackets shipping cost for that item

Chris Borgan (Borg)

Has anyone experience having their epacket orders lost from the USPS Airport office from this address:

9029 Airport Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90009

?

I’ve recently had packages to customers that show they’re being delivered from this USPS center but for a few days now, they just show as “In-Transit”, but they never budge. I’ve tried calling that USPS office but noone answers the phone, and the crappy thing about this situation is that since we order e-packet, it’s not insured and thereby you can’t use USPS’s automated tracking service when calling to track the package. It’s like there’s nothing you can do about it but eat the cost of the order payment of the epacket.

So now I may have to refund my customers because of this USPS which upon googling this office, you can see a lot of bad reviews and similar experiences.

Hi, i’m trying to start a dropshipping shop from Italy. Most of the time ePacket is available for my country but is always appear like tracking information are “Not available”. Is that some type of bug or i won’t acutally get a tracking number. Thank you in advance and sorry for my broken english. 🙂

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Krys

Hello, I have built all my business by including the epacket delivery dates, but for France there is almost no epacket for 1 month, I had to modify all the dates of delivery of my products, then That Oberlo assures me that there is delivery epacket, it is not yet available when we consult the records of the sellers 🙁

Sophie

I am French and i have a Ecommerce .
Epacket for France is really hard to find now as Ali Express asked to use for mostly 80 % of the product Ali Express Standard Shipping. Do you have more information about this new rule or about ali express standard shipping ?
I have to deal with that and when i asked suppliers why they do not use anymore Epacket they say it is a new rule from Ali Express and Ali Express Standsard Shipping is more safe with guarantee. 🙁 For me it is too long !
Don t know what to do !!!

Richard Ames

https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/50e3991f515cdfc5cc337722c05429307cb5b03bac1743190795eafa8826e2c4.jpg
Great article sounds really useful, except it contradicts the info on AliExpress.
I am concerned with changing to an ePacket supplier when it says “No Tracking Information” available, see screenshot. I have enough trouble with customers expecting instant gratification and I don’t want to change something that advertises long shipping times “20-40 day” and not tracking info. This contradicts the information you are providing.
Who is correct and why are the people trying to sell the ePacket service not fixing their information if it’s wrong?

Rollin Shultz

This is great news for anyone who wants to make profits on drop shipping products, but it has huge drawbacks for those who would buy in bulk then stock and sell products and ship from America to America. I personally noticed that the very same sellers from Aliexpress I dealt with were also selling their goods from Ebay and Amazon and at essentially the same prices as they were offering me. I cannot compete with their prices and I must rely on advanced marketing to even get my foot in the door, but even that is getting out of hand for those starting an online store.
Here is a story telling how the Postal organizations are in effect subsidizing the Chinese suppliers and losing money that increases cost to tax payers. Because of these subsidies, it is cheaper to get something from China than we can ship to another state here.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/storyline/wp/2014/09/12/the-postal-service-is-losing-millions-a-year-to-help-you-buy-cheap-stuff-from-china/?utm_term=.4256e643c2ce

I doubt this will continue under the new Trump administration. It would be wise of us to have a contingency plan. I also see there are those who are petitioning for the stopping of these subsidies, and even though it will affect my profits as well, I must back their message because it is the right thing to do if we want to support American businesses.

shay

I just got 2 sales from Argentina where the shipping time can be from 36 – 60 days, should I cancel those orders or connect the customers to get their approval for such a long shipping time?

Do the shipping fees to the US (assuming there is no free delivery) change based on zip code or is it a fixed price?
If they do change, how do I know what final price to charge my customer?

Ruta Ganusauskaite

Hey there Roee,

Ruta here from Oberlo 😉

If you’re going to sell in the US only, then the same shipping cost will apply regardless the zip code. However, you do not need to charge your customers the same shipping cost as your supplier will charge you. I would actually recommend you to offer free shipping and incorporate the shipping cost into your products’ price (make it more expensive to cover shipping expenses). Just a suggestion! 😉

Good luck!

Official Esotera

I noticed that for suppliers, even though there’s a list in this article with 30 countries that support ePacket, why is it that I’ve only seen the US and Canada being ePacket supported?

For example, I would go to the product page on Aliexpress, and choose, say, Denmark, and the only affordable option is China Post Mail, and not ePacket? That same supplier however, does have ePacket but for United states and not Denmark, or Brazil, etc.

I would like some insight on this, thanks.

Yazeed Sharah

you need to download the Oberlo extension for google chrome browser

Yazeed Sharah

Hi Amr, have you found a solution? please share

Ruta Ganusauskaite

Hi there!

Ruta here from Oberlo 😉

Even if ePacket is available in one country, it still depends on the supplier whether they provide ePacket shipping to that particular country.

Mattyboy1965

Are there any future plans that you know of to provide E-Packet Shipping to the UK?

Hi When I do product searches via Oberlo and Aliexpress, I would only like results with ePacket as Delivery Method How do I do this please?

Ruta Ganusauskaite

Hey there George!

Ruta here from Oberlo 😉

If you’re about to import a product from AliExpress, you can easily filter products that can be shipped via ePacket. For that to work, you’ll need to have the Oberlo Chrome extension installed onto your Chrome browser.

Next, go to Aliexpress.com website, to any product category and choose an ePacket applicable country at the top-right of the page (http://take.ms/LSnB8). After that, open Oberlo Chrome Extension and choose “ePacket” as a shipping option and select a certain country (only applicable for shipping to USA, UK, and a few other countries). Update settings and you’ll see products that can be shipped by ePacket. That’s it!

I’m afraid this feature is not available for Oberlo Supply products yet.

Hope this helps!

Eduardo

Is this list up to date? I’d like to know if México is included as an available country for the service.

Be aware that e-packet is misleading. What is stated to be 12-20 days to the US via China Post and the USPS, can be more about what ever the shipping company decides is a priority delivery. I now have several packages that are approaching 30 days out and we paid the e-packet fee – These are orders that where placed in June or early July (no Chinese holidays) and am looking at the very likely potential of refunding several customers. As far as I can tell there is no financial recourse on our side. I have had several orders with the same supplier on both side of the June and July date that shipped e-packet and have had deliveries on time with no issue. This is not the manufacturers issues, but a shipping system issue.

Most of the time things go as expected, but always plan for the unexpected and have a reserve so you can cover customers who will ultimately get their product but you will have to refund because they have no idea (neither will you) on when their package will arrive. BTW, you can refuse refunding them but then you are really not in this for the long haul.

Just the truth beyond what you all hear/see on YouTube that somehow makes e-packet seem to be your solution.

Reality.

Joshua James

Thanks appreciate you explaining that. Any idea what percentage of your sales youve had an issue with.
Just a ballpark

Joshua James

Love the no response on this lol

ELP Outdoors

Generally, everything goes fine with e-packet, but we have two dates that appear to be backed up in July. So it not about % of sales, but orders placed on specific dates from the same supplier that are delayed. We have orders that have delivery is less than 10 days and that is great. Then we other orders that are at almost 30 days that have not delivered, not so great and very frustrating and I we haven’t found any way to hold someone accountable. I look at as if you advertise 12-20 or 7-20 days you should honor it. I will refund my customers because we advertise 2-4 weeks for shipping.

Salome Shunamon

Confused. Your list includes Croatia, Gibralter, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta but I don’t see it on other sites or often on Ali. Meanwhile, I don’t see Greece and others. Is there an exhaustive list somewhere updated for right now? https://epacketexpress.com doesn’t have everything listed, but has others.

Salome Shunamon

@rutaganusauskaite:disqus Confused. Your list includes Croatia, Gibralter, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta but I don’t see it on other sites or often on Ali. https://epacketexpress.com doesn’t have everything listed, but has others. Is there a list right from China?

Ruta Ganusauskaite

Hey!

Seems like the list has changed. We’ll update it accordingly.

Thanks so much for bringing that up!

7Basics

Hi, Everyone-
I’m just getting started in drop shipping. Do U.S. customers really tolerate 14-20 day lead time? Do you get pushback and or One-Time visitors because of the long delivery time?

Magali Henry

I agree with you! I’m using e-Packet for almost 18 month and it’s really not reliable. Can be the best and the worst! About 25% of my orders are delivered more than 30 days after the purchase. This does not provide a good customer experience. The most important impact is on my brand and «word of mouth». I finally used e-Packet on few items only. The best is to focus on some Chinese suppliers and after few drop shipping orders, they offer free shipping by DHL, which is really the best. Build your relationships with them is the best way to deliver the best service and customer experience and avoid using e-Packet 😉 Hope this help

Brien White

Thank you for this post. I have experience the same shipping times. This is a real problem for a new start up for me due to trying to provide good customer service. It’s a sad problem.

Max

This is also a very handy resource for e-packet tracking and gives you the option to stay up-to-date with real-time email updates: http://www.parcelmonitor.com

Kiki Kashyap Hasija

I totally agree with you. Suppliers from Ali Express are all over Amazon and Ebay. I am scared to even start a dropshipping business as I will be competing with the same products that can be accessed by Americans from these 2 sites at such low prices and similar lead times PLUS pay for advertising online. It’s ridiculous how the Chinese Suppliers are undercutting all mom and pop stores + practically selling anywhere and everywhere. There doesn’t seem to be any regulations because Amazon and Ebay just want to make money too. I actually started out buying in bulk and selling online but I realised the same items are available everywhere such as DH Gate too. I see that ultimately, Chinese suppliers want to sell to the whole world and sell direct to consumer. How in the world does one compete with that?! Correct me if I’m wrong…. My only thought is 1) Find a niche product that sells well 2) Create your own designs to stay exclusive + Add some existing ones….

Ruta Ganusauskaite

Hey there!

They seem to tolerate it as long as you set clear expectations for them. Your task is to be transparent and make your shipping policy easily accessible on your store. You’ll be surprised by how many don’t mind waiting an extra couple of weeks for their packages to arrive.

Also, you can always offer free shipping – that way your customers will understand that it’ll probably take a little longer to receive their orders. It will also increase your conversion rates 🙂

My biggest issue as the suppliers print out the ePacket label complete with thier prices on it! I’ve asked ahead of time to not do this.
How do I know? I’ve ordered a few of my own products and sure enough, there they are as well as bold Chinese branding.
Now most orders are delivered less than 30 days. But one such item I ordered has been lost, and I think it happened here in the US.
I will continue to use ePacket but very choosy on my suppliers.

Vicente Hennep

I will use e-packet as my primary shipping method for all the reasons mentioned in the great article.
Yes, some suppliers mess things up. Just change when they do that a second time after you warn them. Also, I only use highly rated suppliers, even if they cost a bit more.

Ruta Ganusauskaite

Hey there Kimberly,

Suppliers must add the price on the package. Otherwise, the item won’t go through customs. But they usually put a much lower price on it, to avoid additional custom charges. Let your customer know about that in case they come asking questions.

Good luck!

Ruta Ganusauskaite

That’s a good approach!

Hope everything’s going well with your store 😉

Denis Smith

I bought several products from some Chinese websites without tracking and I received my items within 15 – 30 days. Sometimes more but that is the average. What if we don’t use tracking system for our dropshipping business?

Patrick Oliveira

Someone could please tell me where I can check e-packet shipping rates to Brazil?

Ruta Ganusauskaite

Hey!

ePacket is not available in Brazil, I’m afraid. But you can check what other shipping options are available for a particular product on AliExpress product’s page:

You simply won’t be able to track your orders. Tracking system won’t affect the shipping time in any way.

Good luck!

Felipe Cardoso

Hello!! Hello! Yes, it is available for Brazil. I have received some parcels via epacket. 😉

John Simcox

So i have found an item and a seller, the seller doesnt use e-packet. If i add them, does oberlo take care of the shipping for me – so they would simply get a CSV file or similar and use oberlo to ship to the world from china ?
i am new here and to this model……thanks 🙂

Ruta Ganusauskaite

Ah, is it? That’s perfect, will add it to the list! Thanks for letting us know 🙂

The shipping fee will depend on the product, so you have to check on the product’s page on AliExpress (just like described above).

Good luck 🙂

Ruta Ganusauskaite

Hey John!

Oberlo itself doesn’t handle the shipping. Instead, it’s your supplier who does. Therefore, it’s up to you which delivery method you choose before ordering the product.

By the way, your customer’s address will be filled in automatically, so you don’t have to worry about that 🙂

Let me know if that’s unclear, I’ll gladly help you out 😉

John Simcox

Thank you very much I appreciate that what I’m finding is the suppliers don’t know how to use the eight pack it service they’re telling me it’s nine dollars to ship a package that weighs about 2 ounces. Is there a place or a way to educate them how they can start using the eight pack a service for the low prices that we see on eBay and Amazon thank you

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Ruta Ganusauskaite

I doubt you’ll be able to make them add a new delivery option. You need to choose from the delivery methods’ list that they already provide.

Note, that there are several suppliers who sell the same goods, so you can always look for the one that offers the best delivery options, e.g. ePacket 😉

Jana

Hello,
Please, is there a way to contact ePacket to discuss about adding new country to them service?
Thanks

Ruta Ganusauskaite

Hey there!

I’m afraid I don’t have a direct contact. Anyhow, I doubt they’d be willing to add a new country easily. I believe it’s a long process, but the list keeps expanding. So stay tuned!

Global Exchain

Found your blog. Its really nice on courier. I appreciate your article. Its important to get quality courier services. So thanks for sharing all that important information.

Epifanio

I strongly advise you to be VERY clear about shipping times and make them VERY accessible (even put it on the home page). Do not take for granted what the guys from Oberlo are saying. They’re obviously making things look easier than they really are. Customers from U.S., Australia, Europe and other developed countries have clear expectations and standards when they buy online. If they buy from Amazon they expect Amazon’s shipping times, the same applies if they buy directly from AliExpress. In that case they wouldn’t mind.

But if they buy from a random local online store, they would expect local shipping time, which is typically 3-5 days. You’re seriously better off highlighting the 2-4 weeks delivery time. Do not rely on the customer digging in your shipping policy or ToS pages because most people wouldn’t bother. They will just see that you’re a local business and order straight away taking for granted a few days wait. So do all you can to drive the customers to the section where you state that it will take that long to deliver. Also, keep in mind that even if they wouldn’t mind, that doesn’t mean they will be happy with that. Especially if you plan to make your buyer a returning customer.

Waiting 2-3 weeks on average and even up to 1 month is not a good customer experience. Especially for returning customers that should wait that long every time they make a purchase. It’s a put-off really. We haven’t had any formal complain so far but on our social accounts people do talks about this and the sentiment is not really positive. Just use this “dropshipping” method to test for product demand and once you verify that there is indeed one, switch to a more profitable model.

Epifanio

Guys, i understand that you are writing a blog article to drive customers to your product, but the description of the e-packet service is a bit too much optimistic. As others have pointed out, e-packet is an unreliable shipping service. Parcels may get stuck in a sorting centre in China for 1 or even 2 weeks, or go missing even though it’s traceable. Also, it is a bit misleading showing that occurrence of a 4 day delivery to New York. That’s a very edge case. Most take 2-3 weeks. So be advised that this shipping method may get you in troubles with your customers if they are not prepared.

The only reasonable thing you can do is just telling the truth: stuffs will be shipped from China and may get up to 1 month. Not a good impression and poor customer experience but at least your customers will be prepared upfront. And they will find out anyway because it’s boldly printed on the shipping label.

Epifanio

It’s been like that for some time now. They are on all major e-commerce platforms. Not only suppliers but even manufacturers are now selling directly on Ebay, Amazon, etc. Many of the “suppliers” on AliExpress are manufacturers. You simply cannot compete with them, that is why you should not sell on Ebay or Amazon. These marketplaces are no longer a “retail” space. They have turned into wholesale marketplaces. I noticed that usually manufacturers sell with a 100% markup compared to factory prices, so if you are buying from them in bulk from the factory be aware of that.

And yes, you need a ton of capital to invest in huge marketing campaigns to just get your foot in the door. There is no other way out.

Epifanio

Are you buying in bulk straight from the manufacturers or from AliExpress. If you buy in bulk from AliExpress there is not much difference with the sale prices. AliExpress is a retail online store. You need to talk factory prices, which usually means going to Alibaba and contacting a manufacturer there. I also agree that the only way to succeed is designing your own items or at the very least doing OEM putting your brand on them.

Rollin Shultz

Yes, it seems like the only possible resource is direct manufacturers like on Alibaba. You must buy in sizable lots to get good pricing, which means you may only be able to fund a few products. I chose electronic components and kits as my niche, but that means I must carry many products.

I have shelved the whole idea now that I have other things taking precedence.

David

I’ve sold a number of drop-shipped products that I sourced directly through Oberlo, not even using AliExpress. Many of the packages are now tracking as “Exception” which I am concerned about. I agree that you can review sellers on AliExpress when selecting drop-shipping products, but does Oberlo do that for the products suggested on their site? How do we rate their sellers? Hopefully I’m not about to give back a bunch of my sales dollars, this would essentially kill my store. When we source drop shipped products through Oberlo directly, what is our recourse?

Hi Everybody, I have just launched a women’s Fashion store stocked from Ali Express and ordered 2 tops as a test for quality and delivery and it is a nightmare. One top took 20 days the other I am still waiting for after 6 weeks. Quality was not that good, not only that but Chinese sizes do not fit western women and you have to adjust size and the customer has to accurately measure before ordering. My daughter tried one of the tops and it would not go over the shoulder although ordered to UK size and the design was poor. You cannot run an online store like this therefore I am looking for European clothing manufacturers but found none to date that would drop-ship. My experience says do not use Ali Express for women’s clothing unless anyone can give me a solution.

Bill

All these discussions show why Amazon, Ebay and large online stores do not worry about the low price of Chinese goods with delivery dates of up to 3 months. They are big enough to get priority manufacture and delivery with their large turnover. My daughters would not buy from my small online store, they would rather go into town and buy and try in Pri-Mark and other large retailers. My store is doomed before it starts unless I find some other way of sourcing products. Up to now I cannot see a solution here.

KayDee Sibbs

Hey @Magali Henry can i have your personal email to contact you. Want to ask about what you wrote above

Magali Henry

Hi @kaydeesibbs:disqus, you can email at info@runit365.com. I’ll be glad to help you.
Have a great day.

Keep in mind, that not all AliExpress suppliers are like that. Lots of people run successful stores and they’re happy with their suppliers. You just need some time and effort to find the right supplier. Let me know if you ever need help with that!

Ruta Ganusauskaite

Hey!

While I believe Raghav wrote the article based on his or other merchants’ experience, I do agree that not everthing works like a clock all the time. And I’m sorry if you had to wait for your product longer than expected – happened to me once and I totally know how frustrating this is.

Anyway, I could not agree with you more – you need to set clear expectations for your customers by letting them know about the delivery times.

Regarding the logos on labels: with Oberlo you can automatically send a custom note to your suppliers each time you place an order on AliExpress platform.

Just go to Oberlo > Settings > Suppliers and add a custom note as shown here: http://take.ms/ph5d5. This way, your supplier will be notified to remove invoices or any promotional information in the package.

Try putting there something like:

“I’m dropshipping. Please DO NOT put any invoices, promotions or your brand name logo in the shipments. Please ship as soon as possible for repeat business. Thank you!”

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Lambano Direct

Thanks for your comment Magali. That helps alot. will send you an email too

Tay Wei Kiang

Hi.
My store had a buyer from Japan which I never catered for, hence my Ali vendor does not hav ePacket for that country.
What’s the next best shipping method?

Magali Henry

Feel free, I’ll be glad to help!

Ruta Ganusauskaite

Hey,

I’m not familiar with the alternative shipping methods your supplier offers, thus I can’t give you a precise answer. But go with the one that gives the best cost/delivery time ratio.